Charlotte comes to Vaught-Hemingway on Saturday as a 47.5-point underdog — the biggest number in the program's history, bigger than the spread when they went to No. 1 Clemson in 2019. Steven Willis is joined by Hunter Bailey of the Highway 49 podcast, who has covered the 49ers since 2018, for the Know Your Enemy crossover.
The headline: Charlotte lost at home to The Citadel, 43-41, as a 20-point favorite. But the way they lost is the scouting report. The Citadel ran for 260-plus yards on them — an FCS school — and did all of it after halftime, scoring touchdowns on their first three second-half drives. And on third and fourth down, The Citadel dialed up cover-zero blitzes that worked. Bailey's expectation is that Ole Miss watches that film and brings six almost every snap.
Then the matchup that decides how early this gets out of hand: Charlotte's corners. CB1 Jamil Croft Jr. is a Kansas transfer who led the defense in snaps. CB2 is 5-foot-8, and The Citadel's bigger receivers won the 50-50 balls against him. Asked whether anybody on Charlotte's roster can run with Deuce Alexander, Bailey didn't hedge.
Plus: the money (roughly $1.7 million, and this game was originally supposed to be played in Charlotte), the crowd noise Charlotte is pumping into practice after three false starts on their own goal line last week, and why Ole Miss should treat this as a get-right game for a secondary that gave up most of Louisville's offense on a handful of busted coverages.
Two days to Charlotte. Nine to LSU. Maybe.
⏱️ CHAPTERS
00:00 Citadel vs Charlotte triple OT thriller
03:59 Ole Miss defensive strategy discussion
09:03 Discussing Charlotte 49ers matchups
12:37 Supporting the podcast and joining club
15:49 Charlotte's game against Citadel
17:47 Offensive strategies with Cole Gonzalez
22:41 Poncho's game day collection
26:29 Biggest Underdog in Charlotte History
27:29 Charlotte Stadium expansion details
📌 THREE THINGS
1. Charlotte's defense is a run defense problem first. They gave up 260-plus on the ground to The Citadel and could not get a stop in the second half after looking fine in the first. They run a 4-2-5. The front seven has real pieces — DJ Burgess on the edge, a Mississippi kid at around 270, and North Carolina transfer Devin Ancrum inside — and Gavin Willis, No. 13, wears the green dot and gets downhill well. But the group as a whole is unproven, and they gave up over 35 a game last season.
2. The blitz tape is the useful tape. The Citadel got to Cole Gonzalez with cover zero on third and fourth down and it worked more than once. Charlotte's left tackle, Javen Williams, is a big body at 325 who spent two injury-shortened seasons at Penn State — last Saturday was the first college football he has ever played. Gonzalez is six foot, around 200 pounds, and Bailey's read was that the pressure got to him. He threw two interceptions, both on screens at the line of scrimmage.
3. What Charlotte actually wants to do: win first down, get to second and short, and run play-action out of an identical look. They were nine of ten on play-action against The Citadel and near-perfect in the screen game. They live in the pistol and the shotgun and almost never go under center, even in short yardage. The two names to know are Gonzalez at quarterback and No. 1 Jayden Barnes, an App State transfer who led the team in targets. Jalen Hampton had the breakout — eight catches, 117 yards, two touchdowns.
🎥 EVERYDAYER CLUB EXCLUSIVE: Coach Corey Burton's All-22 breakdown of Deuce Alexander's touchdown is up now for members.
🦈 EVERYDAYER CLUB — ad-free, plus members-only Discord. 7-day free trial: https://lockedonolemiss.supercast.com
🌐 THE OLE MISS HUB — https://olemisshub.com
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🎧 EVERY PLATFORM — https://link.chtbl.com/LOOleMiss?sid=YouTube
🏴 THE OTHER SIDE — Hunter Bailey, Highway 49 podcast
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